…that morphed into a season of reflection and preparation for “greater things”.

Our best efforts to improve our relationships or change the world can end in fruitless disappointment and frustration when we step out with good intentions first and seek God’s blessing as an after thought. Second thought isn’t good enough, because the original idea was ours, not HIS. His ideas aren’t only best, they’re blessed!

These 40 posts, with challenges and scripture references to look up, copy down, and mediate on, are an invitation to start over and begin again by seeking the LORD first and pursuing the simple gifts and resources He has made available to us for fellowship and discipleship.

Some of the main themes are:

prayer

tools / resources

goals / dreams / plans / God’s will

friendship / fellowship

key words / personal themes

order and beauty in your life / home

What's with all the rocks? - Have you seen the illustrations of putting "the big rocks", the most important things, into you "jar"/life first? -- If you do not prioritize, "the sand" or fillers make it impossible to put those really important things in later. We must START WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS FIRST! --- The header with all the rocks is a personal reminder to me that I have many options, but I have to make a choice. Just like I told my daughter when we visited a rock beach, "We can't take them all with us. You'll have to just pick a few that you can carry." ---- You can't do it all. And, to not decide is to do without and miss a blessing. ----- So, what is most important to you? What will you do with these next 40 days of your life?

As we put our lives in order, making God and eternity the priority over ourselves and here-and-now desires, by seeking Him first: before we start the day, before we make plans, before we overcommit, before we fill our tomorrows with consequences from today’s poor choices, before we speak, before we isolate ourselves or spread ourselves too thin in shallow relationships, before everything, we find ourselves choosing the BEST, doing the BEST, and living the BEST days everyday.

“But seekfirstHiskingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33

These encouraging challenges can be found in the Archives from August 1 – September 9, 2015